Police detain suspect in killing of Palestinian activist

The Israel Police have arrested an Israeli resident of Judea in connection with the shooting death on Monday night of Awdah Hathaleen, a Palestinian activist featured in the Oscar-winning anti-Israel film “No Other Land.”

The Israel Defense Forces told JNS that the incident started on Monday night when “terrorists hurled stones at Israeli civilians near the area of Carmel,” a Jewish community in the Mount Hebron region of Judea.

“One of the armed civilians opened fire at the terrorists. There are reports of casualties,” the military’s Spokesperson’s Unit stated.

Two foreign activists and five Palestinians were arrested by IDF soldiers, the Israel Police said in an English-language statement shared with JNS on Tuesday morning.

“As a result of the incident, a Palestinian man was pronounced dead,” it confirmed. “His exact involvement is under investigation.”

Yuval Abraham, an Israeli far-left activist who co-directed “No Other Land” together with Palestinian filmmaker Basel Adra, identified the slain Arab on X as “a friend who helped us film.”

According to Abraham, the shooter was Yinon Levi, who has been sanctioned by the European Union, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Japan for alleged acts of violence against Palestinians.

A spokesperson for the Hebron Hills Regional Council told JNS that the incident involved “dozens of Arab rioters” who attacked “Jewish workers and cars carrying out work to develop a new neighborhood” of Carmel.

“One of the workers who was attacked by dozens of rioters fired in self-defense,” the council spokesperson said, adding: “According to an Arab report, one of the rioters was wounded and killed in the shooting.”

The assailants were said to have descended upon the Jewish community from the nearby Arab village of Umm al-Khair, which the spokesperson described as a “hotbed of provocations and riots over the years,” noting that foreign anti-Israel activists often use it as their base of operations.

Attorney Avichai Hajbi, whose Honenu legal aid organization represents the suspect, successfully requested the shooter’s release to house arrest during a remand hearing at the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday afternoon.

“It is very serious that the Israel Police is requesting to extend the detention of a resident who was attacked by a stone-throwing mob, which endangered human lives—his and others,” stated Hajbi ahead of the hearing.

“I am sure that at the end of the day the court, when it examines the evidence in the case, will order my client’s release,” the lawyer said.

“Earlier today, police requested an extension of the suspect’s detention. The court denied the request and ordered the suspect released to house arrest until Friday, August 1, 2025, under restrictive conditions,” stated the Israel Police. “The investigation remains ongoing, and all aspects of the incident are being examined thoroughly—including claims made by those involved, video footage from the scene, and additional evidence.”

The IDF recorded 663 instances of violence by Jews against Palestinians in Judea and Samaria last year, a 34% decrease compared to 2023.

Meanwhile, Palestinian terrorists targeted Israeli Jews in Judea and Samaria at least 6,343 times in 2024, according to data published by Rescuers Without Borders (Hatzalah Judea and Samaria).

Twenty-seven Israelis were murdered in Judea and Samaria in 2024, and more than 300 others were wounded, the group said in its annual report.